Keeper mechanism



Jan. 3, 1956 R. MARPLE 2,729,492

KEEPER MECHANISM Filed April 21, 1951 l INVENTOR. I 1 'FdZZO Afzr Ze HTTA Y KEEPER MECHANISM Rollo Marple, Jackson, Mich., assignor to Hancock Manufactoring. Company, Jackson, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application April 21, 1951, Serial No. 222,181

3 Claims. (Cl. 292-34112) This invention relates to door latching mechanisms, and more particularly to the construction of keepers adapted to cooperate with door bolts of the rotary type and having a plurality of radially extending bolt, teeth.

In the past the design of keepers for cooperation with rotary bolts has included a striker surface which is in the path of a bolt tooth when the door is closed to impart, a rotary motion to the bolt in. its latching direction, and a latching surface behind the striker surface which is engaged by the next succeeding tooth as it moves out of the bolt housing to perform the latching function. The bolt is also customarily providedwith another set of, teeth which is cooperable with bolt dogging means to prevent unlatching movement of the bolt. In the conventional construction, the bolt dogging means is forced into a retracted position by one of the teeth in this other set as the bolt is rotated by the striker surface, and drops behind this tooth after the apex of the toothhas passedunder the dogging means. This point in the operation of the latch is known as the dogging position, since the dogging means then cams the bolt abruptly into its, latching position in which it engages the latching surface.

A common dilficulty with theinstallation of latches of this type is that the dogging position of the bolt is improperly located with respect to the closed position of the door, so that in order to dog the bolt it is necessary to slam the door with great effort, increasing the wear on the parts and the danger. of breakage. The reason for this difficulty is that in the ordinarily masseproduction methods of assembly, the bolt or keeper are often secured in such relative lateral positions that the striker surface does not engage the bolt tooth until the door is too tightly closed. This prevents suflicient. camming action of the striker surface to force thedogging tooth past the dogging means, and thus prevents the dogging action from: taking place.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate this difficulty by providing a novel and improved keeper construction having means for hastening the dogging action of the rotary bolt when the door is closed, thus assuring the bolt being dogged without the necessity of slamming the door with more than its normal closing force.

It is. another object to provide a keeper construction of the above character, whichprovides a secondary striker surface supplementing the action" of the primary striker surface, so that an additional rotational force is applied to the bolt after the primary striker surface has imparted an initial rotational force. More particularly, it is an object to provide a striker surface behind the primary striker surface and engageable with the latching tooth of the bolt before said tooth has reached its latching position, to thereby impart additional rotational speed to the bolt, thus hastening its arrival at dogging position.

It is also an object to provide an improved keeper mechanism which will impart a quiet and smooth dogging action to therojtary bolt as the door isclosed. In association with this object, it is within the contemplation of this invention to provide a keeper mechanism which will United States Patent 0,7

2,729,492 Patented Jan. 3, 1956 2 insure that the rotary bolt will engage the latching surface of the keeper before the bolt dogging, means is tripped or released, so that no sharp bolt movement with itsiaccompanying clicking noise will be produced.

It isafurther objectof this invention to provide a keep er construction of, the above character which is especially adapted to cooperate with rotary bolts having multiple cam dogging means, and wherein the. keeper will facilitate the progressive take-up action of these camsby hastening the dog-tripping action of the bolt when the door isclosed.

. It is also an object to provide. a keeper construction of the above character, which is extremely simple-and easily fabricated, using, the basic construction of the. conventional keeper andtrequiring very few additional parts.

Other objects, features, and advantagesof the present invention will become apparent from, the subsequent description taken in. conjunction with the. accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the improved keeper construction, showing the auxiliary member in its normal. extended position, and with the rotary bolt shown in dot-dash, lines.

Figure. 2 is a. rear elevational view of the keeper, parts being brokenaway for clarity and showing the resilient spring connected to the auxiliary member.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a bolt and its dogging means shown in cooperation with a keeper of conventional? construction, the view showing the position of the bolt at its dogging position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but with the improved keeper of this invention in place of the. conventional keepen'showing the earlier dogging position of the bolt.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the bolt advanced further in a latching direction, and with the first cam of the dogging means entered behind the dogging tooth; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing all the cams of the dogging means in their fully home position.

The invention is shown as embodied in a keeper of conventional construction which is adapted to cooperate with a multi-toothed rotary bolt such as commonly used on motor vehicle doors. However, it will be understood that the principles of this invention are equally applicable to other types of keepers or bolts wherein it is desired to facilitate the dogging action of the parts during closing movement. The keeper in the illustrated embodiment is shown as having a base plate 1.1 of generally fiat shape which is adapted to be securedto the door jamb (not shown) of a vehicle by means of a plurality of spaced fastener openings 12. The keeper housing, generally indicated at 13, extends laterally from an intermediate portion of the base plate, and has a relatively flat. upper surface 14 for cooperation with an abutment such. as is conventionally provided on the bolt mechanisms of vehicle latches. The front and rear portions 15 and 1e respectively of the keeper housing are of generally rounded shape, and the bottom portion is of irregular shape, and in particular has a striker surface 17 and a latching surface 18 to thcrear thereof.

The striker. and latching surfaces are so disposed as to cooperate with. a conventional multi-toothed rotary bolt 19, shown. in dot-dash lines in Fig. l. in particular, the striker surface l7 faces downwardly and forwardly, so that when the upwardly extending tooth 21 of the bolt, approaches and abuts this surface, the bolt will be cammed counterclockwise. The latching surface 18 is disposed rearwardly of the striker surface and faces downwardly and rearwardly, the two surfaces being connected by a rounded intermediate portion 22. The latching surface is therefore in'obstructing relation with the latchingtooth 23 of thebolt which is rotated upwardly and behind the latching surface by the counterclockwise rotation of the bolt. It will be understood that the structure and function of surfaces 17 and 18; does not form a part of the invention but is of conventional design in keepers of this type. V

The keeper is also provided with a conventional safety member comprising a finger 24 which is pivotally secured to the downwardly open forward portion of the keeper housing and extends downwardly therefrom. The purpose of the safety member is of course to provide a preliminary latching operation as the door approaches its finally latched position. The safety member is provided with a safety striker surface 25 and a safety latching surface 26. The striker surface will be engaged by the bolt to cause the safety memberto pivot about pin 27 against the action of its relatively weak spring 28. After the bolt has passed into latching position behind the safety member, the latter will be moved back to its original position by spring 28, and will thereafter be prevented from unlatching movement by engagement of its edge 29 with the adjacent edge of opening 31 through which the safety member extends. It will be understood that the safety member in itself set of teeth, and dogging means without progressive camming action, could be used.

Fig. 3 illustrates the dogging position of the bolt described when cooperating with the conventional keeper. In particular, the striker surface 38 is shown as having engaged the tooth 51, and having rotated the bolt to such a position that the apex of dogging tooth 49 is about to pass the corner of the first cam 46. At this point, therefore, the latching tooth 52 is about to be abruptly moved against latching surface 39.

The important thing to observe in this illustration of the conventional dogging action is the lateral position of centerline 53, as exemplified by the distance A from this cenforms no part of the invention, and that other types of safety members, such as stationary members, could be used.

This invention provides a feature in addition to the conventional elements of the keeper which results in the novel tripping action described above. This feature comprises an auxiliary member generally indicated at 32, which is mounted directly behind the latching surface 18. As is seen in Figs. 1 and 2, this member is of generally elongated shape and extends through a slot 33 in the rear portion of the latching surface. The upper portion of member 32 is pivotally mounted within the rear portion of the keeper housing by means of a pivot pin 34, so that the element is allowedlimited rotary movement in the same manner as safety member 24. A coil spring 35 surrounds pin 34, one end of the coil spring being secured to base plate 11 and the other end engageable with a toe 36 at the upper end of member 32. It will thus be seen that the coil spring urges member 32 in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1, or against the forward end of slot 33. The slot is of suflicient length however to allow a limited counterclockwise movement to the auxiliary member when engaged by the bolt, as will be later described in detail. The lower portion of the auxiliary member outwardly of slot 33is provided with a secondary striker surface 37, this surface being shown as extending downwardly to substantially the same level as the lowest portion of rounded intermediate surface 22, although if desired member 32 could extend to a point above or below this level. It will be observed that the movement of the auxiliary member is independent of the other elements of the keeper, and in particularis independent of the movement of safety member 24.

In order to more fully appreciate the action of the improved keeper construction, it is believed advisable to first study the action of a rotary bolt when cooperating with a keeper of ordinary construction, not embodying the additional member 32. Such a keeper is represented schematically in Fig. 3, the keeper having a striker surface 38, a latching surface 39, a safety member 41 and an upper surface 42 engageable with the abutment 43' of the bolt mechanism. The rotary bolt 44 is shown as having two sets of radially extending teeth, one set, shown in solid lines, adapted to cooperate with the keeper elements and the other set, shown in dotted lines, adapted to cooperate with the dogging means 45. The dogging means in this instance is shown as being of the conventional take-up type having three independently movable cams 46, 47 and 48 adapted to progressively fall behind the dogging tooth 49. It will be understood that the bolt mechanism shown is merely illustrative of various types which could be used, and in particular that bolts having but a single terline to the rear end of the keeper housing, which represents the degree to which the door has closed relative to the jamb. in the illustrated example, it will be seen that the distance A is relatively short, or in other words that line 53 is a substantial distance past striker surface 38. This position is to be contrasted with the analogous position of this centerline in Fig. 4 which shows the dogging action with the improved keeper construction of this invention. As seen in Fig. 4, the dogging position of the bolt is reached when it is a substantial distance in front of the clogging position with the conventional keeper. This is evidenced by the distance B from the centerline 54 to the rear end of the keeper housing, distance B being substantially greater than its analogous distance A in Fig. 3. In other words, the centerline 54 is a relatively short distance past the main striker surface 17.

The reasonfor this premature dogging action is that the latching tooth 23 of the bolt has engaged auxiliary member 32 at its secondary striker surface 37. This engagement imparts a greater rotational speed to the bolt for a given horizontal door movement. This is because the rotational movement of the bolt is dependent upon the relative angularity of the mutually engaging surfaces. In particular, as the line of pressure (perpendicular to the mutually engaging surfaces) becomes more steeply inclined relative to the path of movement of the bolt, the rotational speed of the bolt will decrease. In the case of the main striker surface 17, the line of pressure (line P in Fig. 3) becomes quite steeply inclined relative to the path of movement of the bolt as the bolt axis passes the striker surface, since the engaging point is then moving outwardly along the tooth surface. This change of angularity of the pressure line will substantially decrease the rotational speed of the bolt. However, the engagement of tooth 23 in Fig. 4 with tripping member 32 introduces a second bolt-engaging point with a pressure line P inclined only slightly from the path of movement of the bolt, and this will substantially increase the rate of rotation of the bolt. This is evidenced by the fact that the bolt will actually leave contact with the main striker surface, even before the dogging position is reached. By the timethe dogging position is reached, as shown in Fig. 4, the latching tooth 23 will be in engagement with latching surface 18, so that when the dogging tooth 55 passes the first dogging cam 56, there will be no abrupt rotation of the bolt with its accompanying loud clicking noise. The action will be quiet and smooth into the dogged position.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate successive positions of the bolt as the cams of the dogging means fall behind the dogging tooth 55, the purpose of these illustrations being to show the movement of auxiliary member 32 during this action. In Fig. 5, the first cam 56 is shown as having entered behind the dogging tooth 55. It will be seen from this figure that the latching tooth 23 has moved upwardly along the latching surface 18 to thereby force member 32 rearwardly against the action of its resilient spring 35. Figure 6 illustrates the position of the bolt when all three cams are in their fully home position. Under these conditions the latching tooth 23 has moved still fully rearwardly along the latching surface 57, thus forcing member 32 still fully counterclockwise against its resilient spring. It is important to note that dogging member 32 has no operative 5 function after the tripping position of Fig. 4 has been reached, and that the fully home position of the bolt is the same whether the conventional keeper or the improved keeper of this invention is used. The progressively acting cams therefore have a wider range of activity with the improved keeper than they have with the ordinary keeper, since their action is triggered sooner when the door is initially closed.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a keeper adapted for use with a multi-toothed rotary bolt and a dogging member adapted to be moved into dogging position behind a tooth of said bolt, a for wardly facing primary striker surface for imparting initial rotation to said bolt towardits dogging position, means on said keeper for completing the dogging movement of said bolt, said means comprising an auxiliary member pivotally mounted on said keeper behind said primary striker surface, said auxiliary member extending through a slot in said keeper and having a secondary striker surface outwardly of said slot, and resilient means normally urging said auxiliary member against the bolt in opposition to the direction of the said bolt.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said keeper being further provided with a latching surface engageable by a tooth of said bolt, said secondary striker surface being engageable by said lrzrkmentioned tooth before the tooth engages said latching surface, whereby the tooth will be moved against said latching surface before the bolt reaches its dogging position.

3. In a keeper adapted for use with a multi-toothed rotary bolt and a dogging member adapted to be moved into dogging position behind a tooth of said bolt, a forwardly facing primary striker surface extending from said keeper for imparting initial rotation to said bolt toward its dogging position, means on said keeper for completing the dogging movement of said bolt, said means comprising an auxiliary member pivotally mounted on said keeper behind said primary striker surface, said auxiliary member having a secondary striker surface extending from said keeper in the same direction as said primary striker surface, and resilient means normally urging said auxiliary member against the bolt in opposition to the direction of advance of said bolt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,074,191 Roethel Mar. 16, 1937 2,195,179 Marple Mar. 26, 1940 2,224,512 Endter Dec. 10, 1940 2,301,560 Marple Nov. 10, 1942 2,499,165 Roethel Feb. 28, 1950 

